Thailand franchise business matching event scheduled for March

Mar 1, 2018

Thailand’s largest franchise business matching event is scheduled for Bangkok next week.

Organised by VF Franchise Consulting on March 7-8, the event will showcase leading international franchise brands from the US, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. Executives from Little Caesars Pizza, Presotea, Brotzeit, First Code Academy, The Edge Learning Centre and Sureclean will be in Bangkok to meet with potential franchisees and investors. “These franchise brands represent a broad spectrum of segments, including food and beverage, education, and services, and cater to both B2B and B2C markets,” said VF Franchise Consulting CEO Sean T Ngo.

“Franchise business matching events allow for investors and franchisees to have an up close and detailed discussion with key executives from leading franchises that wish to expand their presence into Thailand. It is our experience that many of the chosen franchisees are eventually chosen from these initial, in-country meetings, making it important for investors to not miss this rare opportunity to meet with proven and successful franchises.”

He said that with Thailand being ASEAN’s second largest economy, there is strong interest from international franchisors seeking a presence in such an exciting market.

“Thailand is about the size of the state of Texas in the US and has nearly three times the population with about 69 million people. The franchising sector in Thailand is also large, with over 600 franchise systems, and is expected to grow 15 per cent each year for the next five years.”

Franchise sales in Thailand are estimated to total nearly US$3 billion annually and there are more than 45,000 franchised outlets contributing more than 200,000 jobs to the Thai economy.

“Thai consumers are becoming wealthier and demanding higher-quality products and services that appeal to local Thai tastes and preferences,” said Ngo.

Jackson Kah, Presotea’s international franchise manager, said the bubble milk tea market is fast-growing and competitive in many markets, including Thailand.

“Consumers have consistently favoured higher-quality teas from Taiwan. At Presotea, we are differentiated from others by introducing the world’s first premium tea brewing process that uses a modified espresso machine to ensure that our teas are fresher and healthier with every customer order. We also manufacture our own teas to ensure the best quality.”

Singapore-based German-themed restaurant Brotzeit is another franchisor showing keen interest in entering Thailand. Malcolm Chao, Brotzeit’s VP of franchise operations and development, says Thais embrace multi-food cultures with communal and celebratory experience. “It has a positive environment for food brands to be introduced and grow within the Thai community. “

Education opportunities

It is not only in the food and beverage sector that is exciting for international franchisors. Many see great opportunities in the education industry. Asian countries specifically continue to invest further into education for children between the ages of four and 18.

Michelle Sun, CEO and founder of First Code Academy, says that since her company launched in 2013, it has grown to be the leading K-12 coding education brand in Asia with a presence in six different cities in the region.

“We continue to see great potential for coding education regionally. Thailand has a strong economy and robust infrastructure, and with technology identified as a crucial driver of growth in Thailand 4.0, and there is an opportunity to fill the gap in Stem education for its future generation.”

While the above industries are focused on B2C, Thailand’s fast-growing industries also represent a unique opportunity to leverage proven B2B franchises. Alvin Tan, CEO and founder of Sureclean, adds: “As a leading hygiene and disinfection company from Singapore, Sureclean offers a tried-and-proven business system for our franchisees to tap into this fast growing, recession-proof hygiene industry that is worth about US$22.5 billion by the year 2022.”